Training Wilde!
by CRYSTALFANG
Summary: Hey, guys! So I decided to re-do Nick's Training Days due to the inspiring words of Sur2Sur! Thx so much 4 support! "You'll never be a real cop, just a fox that sticks out." It wasn't until that moment that Nick for once could not come up with a retaliation, so he simply stood there and watched the Javanese tiger walk away because for once, he thought he might be right...
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I was thinking last night, and something came to me. Another way to write my story if you remember, Nick's Training Days. I've decided to do flashbacks of the training that Nick went through with the assistance of Judy, but the rest of the story will be taking place in the present, starting from the moment Nick walks into the training academy to the very end of his training. I've also decided to make this fanfic dramatic rather than humoristic seeing as to how I am not good at that at all, and instead I plan to just keep this in the place I'm more familiar with and more comfortable with. I'd also like to give a shout out to** **sur2sur** **such a warm hearted fellow who was kind enough to inspire me! It was most appreciated!**

 **I'd also like to say to jrfan98 that I am very sorry to have made this probably seem like last minute thing, however, if you want I can still send you like the original story concept through PM if you want. But then again you're working on your one-shots at the moment, great job by the way!, so you probably won't have time.**

 **This story was inspired by the fanfic "What It Takes" by Canadian Crow, which you should totally check out by the way as it is an awesome story, and the songs "Immortals" by Fallout Boy from 'Big Hero 6' soundtrack and "What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger" by Kelly Clarkson and "Try" by P!NK...OH! And "Hall Of Fame" by The Script.**

 **READ ON!**

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Nick suppressed the urge to gag as he swallowed the thick creamy substance that the luncheon staff _claimed_ was oatmeal.

Really, really hot oatmeal.

The mashed oats slid down his throat making it feel like jello as he gave a sharp intake of breath to cool the throbbing in the lump of his throat, which only furtherly worsened the dull pain that had decidedly skyrocketed after that little poor stunt. But, on the plus side at least it kept him from making any smart remarks at his fellow comrades - or as he liked to call them, Turdraiders. He was sorry, but he wasn't sorry. He was sorry because he'd promised Judy that he wouldn't be cynical to any of his possible future co-workers. Key word: possible. He wasn't sorry for calling them what he called them. Since the moment he stepped on campus he'd been met with scrutiny, judging eyes and scowls that rivaled his smirk but he pulled through. He didn't get his philosophy of life from nothing you know.

Anyways, all the trainees were given a minimum of five minutes to eat and then it was off to practice...whatever the fuck they were going to practice on doing today. Though the vulpine had a few ideas of what that was. It was completely expected of the instructors to give the trainees a hard time. It was also expected of these instructors to give Nick the hardest time of all. However, they'd made one tiny slip up; they didn't know Nicholas Wilde. For one thing he was never one to stray away from reality and unlike Judy was never idealistic, bright eyed, or dreamy and starry eyed. Nick tried, however, to be determined and in all his cons he'd always have a little bell of a reminder ringing in his head, telling him that this was all for money; well, the same thing applied for here at the academy as he sat there spooning the last of his oatmeal down his throat before guzzling down a load of discrete skim milk, which in turn, made him gag _again_.

Nick hated breakfast with a passion. And to some that would be a complete surprise if you didn't know Nick Wilde. If you asked him why, he'd tell you, "Tell the academy of fucktarts that I said what up." If you asked him what he meant by that, he'd most likely give you a blank stare that rivaled a deadman staring at you - his eyes always had that type of effect on others. No but seriously, every time he walked into the luncheon he was met with all eyes staring directly at him. And when he was making his way towards the line of mammals to retrieve a plate they would all push and shove him out the way and he would end up being the last in line: last in line got a dirty plate and hot oatmeal because all the other predators took up all the good stuff.

A routine that repeated itself daily. But getting to the table was fucking easy peasy for some reason, even though he found himself talking to no one, not that he wanted to anyways. But when he got up from the table everyone went into a half silence - I say half cause they couldn't shut the fuck up about the fox walking down the aisle.

"Just ignore them, just ignore them," Nick muttered under his breath. The fox delicately stepped over the sweeping tails , trying his hardest not to step on one.

"ALRIGHT, PIP SQUEAKS BREAKFAST ENDS IN 10, 9-"

Everyone began scrambling out their seats, running around frantically as they crammed their trays into the dirty dishes basket. The sounds of plates clinking together ringed endlessly in Nick's ears as he walked calmly towards the trash bin that was twice as large as him making him stand up on his tip toes and scrape what was left of his possessed oatmeal into the bin before putting his dish in with the others before slinking off silently back to his seat.

"3, 2, 1!" The megaphone announced. The doors to the cafeteria swung open with a loud bang and everyone was standing stiff to attention with hands limp to their sides. A massive *javan tiger* walked in wearing what could only be described as what a sergeant would wear.

The feline walked slowly down the lines of trainees staring each one down with a deep scowl written on his face.

For a second, Nick thought the feline was just going to stare at them forever, and some part of him wanted to blurt out, "Take a picture of us, it'll last longer in your photo album." but he had a promise to keep and he intended to keep it, for her.

The tiger spoke in a slight country accent that was accompanied with a tilt of Australian, or British, "My name is Auro S. Williams. However you will call me Sergeant Williams all the way up to your graduation," Nick pressed his ears further down as he felt the sudden vibrations of the tiger's loud booming voice like a boombox being pressed against one of his ears turned up to the max.

"Now, I'm sure you all have _splendid heroic_ reasons for wanting to be cops. Become part of T.U.S.K. And I'm sure some of you are even hoping to be part of FBI for reasons. Am I right?"

Most of the officers nodded their heads, some even saying 'yes sir'. Nick said absolutely nothing; he knew what was coming next, no warning whatsoever to the poor mammals as they had their eardrums blasted as the tiger roared,"WELL GOOD RIDDANCE! THIS ISN'T A DAMN EVERYDAY COP MOVIE WHERE YOUR INSIPID DREAMS COME TRUE! DO I _LOOK_ LIKE PETER PHANT TO YOU?!"

The officers shook their heads, the smell of fear wafting through the air, some of the officers looked like they had pissed themselves even. Nick remained as cool and collected as possible. That didn't stop the sudden throbbing of his right temple however.

"I ain't gonna treat you like yer bestest friend. And don't you even THINK!, about trying to talk to me like I am. Cause let me tell y'all somin'. I will click your asses so hard your great grandchildren are gonna be born with sore asses, and I guarantee it's gonna leave a mighty fine mark on those bosoms of yours."

The officers swallowed their Adam's Apple and kept a straight face through it all; even as spit wetted their snouts and the horrid smell of which could be described as tobacco infiltrated their nostrils. Nick was just lucky to be the smallest. No spit and tobacco fumes to worry about down here, of course there was a minor set back. From what Judy had described her days of training as, she'd been ignored through the first couple of weeks but once she'd started excelling in the more complicated of stuff during training, she'd become a noticeable figure. Especially when she was almost there towards becoming Valedictorian of her class; some, mostly predator, had found it an offence against their pride while others, mainly prey, had thought of her as an idol and had come to realise that she wasn't your average carrot-farming, meak bunny. Hooves and paws down, she was probably one of the most surprising and complicated rabbit ever known to animalkind. She didn't take 'no' for an answer, never knew when to quit, was determined to prove herself even if that meant pushing herself past her limitations, and was always ready to prove another mammal wrong about bunny stereotypes.

To her, it didn't matter your species. If you had a dream and believed you're worthy of that dream coming true go for it and don't stop till you got to the finish line.

All that hard earned work had made her top of the class and adorned by all her classmates, making her feel like a star.

Unfortunately, the same thing couldn't be said for Nicholas P. Wilde. Conman of the year, to him at least, he'd been conning people of their money since twelve years old, he took selfies when he truly was to bored to give a crap about taking away people's money, and quite frankly was always somehow either winding up drunk with a one night stand in tow that inevitably never goes as planned, or crouching under a bridge in the dead of night with only his night vision and keen sense of smell to protect him from whatever urban dangers were waiting to pounce and strike a blow to a lonesome red fox in the cold of night.

Or he was sleeping in a drawer in the dark of an apartment's basement.

A _pret-ty_ pathetic excuse of a 'I'm going to be a awesome officer and cool as fuck partner their ever was!' if his background had anything to say about it in the least. He was intelligent, and fast on his feet and could think and react physically all at the same time. He could still remember when he'd done his very first sparring match with Judy and how she'd through a slip up comment, mentioned on it ever so slightly. To this day he still didn't know if she had been burrowing encouragement into his mind or if she had been toying with him, distracting him by boosting his ego leaving him distracted for a moment but a moment that left him defenseless; what he did know though was that that bunny something fierce, and noble, loyal, determined, and down right _adorable_. He chuckled at how something as measly as a rabbit had somehow managed to change a fox like himself, cynical view on the urban jungle he lived in...mostly.

"Something funny?!" A voice snapped, cutting like a knife through his thoughts.

The fox blinked once. Twice. And then became aware of his surroundings and mentally cursed himself for letting himself go off in a dazed stupor. He shook his head swallowing lengthy at a lump that had involuntarily rose from the depths of his throat. He heard the sounds of snickering as a couple of his 'bunkmates' tried to conceal their giggles as they cast glances at him filled with spite and smugness. Nick tried to ignore and was tempted to call them out, since they _were_ pretty loud; but if the javan tiger heard, he didn't care. _Of course he doesn't care. The fox is SO much more important!_

"WELL?!" The Sergeant snapped at him, baring his yellow-white fangs at him.

Nick jumped slightly, standing as stiff as possible causing it to look like he had flinched, which caused everyone to start snickering. The red vulpine felt his ears burning with embarrassment as he stared back into the dark amber eyes of the tiger.

"No Sergeant, nothing is funny," He said in as loud a voice as possible. That didn't seem to please the feline at all.

"Say that a bit louder please, I don't anyone heard you.."

"NOTHING'S FUNNY _SERGEANT_!" He spat the word sergeant out as if it was thirty year old piece of crap had gotten in his mouth. Once again, he wasn't sorry at all.

The striped feline looked like he was on the verge of saying something but held back against it and only glared deathly at the fox before standing to his full height and with a silent gesture made his way to the front of the line and began to casually walk out of the cafeteria with the others in tow, Nick at the back...as usual...

"Today, you will be training for the Sahara Square District; Scorching Sandstorm!"

Nick winced an gritted his canines together. Great, first being prejudice, then stereotypes, and a stuck up tobacco smoking teacher; and now he was gonna have to deal with scorching heat, and a _sandstorm simulator_.

 _But really, how bad can it be?_

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 **A/N:... O. ! Okay, I know I say this a lot when I say I'm gonna try to get more chapters out but I swear I am. Problem is, I'm a Youtuber and I am currently working on a two other fanfiction stories all related to Zootopia; and then I've got another fanfic I'm working on related to Alpha & Omega, and Warriors. And if you look at my profile you'll notice I have some other stories that I have neglected for a long time as you can tell from the day they were published. I'm planning to delete some of them and start all over again some other time but I thought 'naaah'. So I'm gonna probably end up deleting those, especially that Pillar of Wings one. That was a terrible decision in its wake. Nope. Not doing that again. And I still have a _ton_ of stories that I wanna work on and publish but I've got all these babies to handle first so I can't...**

 **Anyways, and as always, I will see YOU - in the next chapter...PEACE OUT! ^^**


	2. Chapter 2

_From now on Nick, keep your freaking mouth shut!_

The simulator had, and was in fact, far more than what Judy had described it to be. And the exact the opposite of what he'd thought he would have to deal with. He should've known that sly bunny was only giving him half the details of what was to be expected at the academy along with the harsh obstacle courses and damned instructors that existed as well.

 _Knew I should've taken her seriously_ , the reynard thought grunting as he pushed through another shift of piling sand that was actually _scorching_. In all his years on the streets he'd visited and conned every district ever known including the Nocturnal District and the Polar District which was a district completely unrelated to TundraTown. **(if you read the Zootopia Guidebook it mentions some districts never mentioned or seen in the movie. The Polar District is one of them.)** Sahara Square was no exception and was the place he most frequently visited and conned out of all the districts and not once in any of those days he was there had he come face to face with a sandstorm. A fucking sandstorm!

Eyes watering from the heat blowing in his direction he could make out the finish line of the simulator and picked up the pace only to get a mouthful of sand. He spat it out and continued on his way, crawling and dragging himself along the soft sifting taupe trying to keep from panting, the last thing he wanted or needed was more hot sand in his mouth which ironically enough felt like a desert at the moment. Nick was the only one on the course at the moment while everyone else was waiting on him quite impatiently some looking bored out of their minds. For the first time in forever Nick felt hopeless, like he wasn't going to actually be able to get through this; like all his efforts were going to be wasted on nothing, and what if he did make it out of the academy? Would he even be assigned to Precinct One or even get Judy as his partner? These questions threatened to fill his brain and break him but at the same time, however, he'd made a promise and intended to keep it.

It took a good whole half a minute before he had gotten to the end and by then the Javanese tiger was very close to just leaving him there to die but of course he'd have his ass served to him by the City Council if he did. Didn't mean he didn't think about doing it, he just couldn't...

"Took your ass long enough!", he snapped at the red figure dragging himself forwards his entire trainee suit ruined and battered with sand grains. His green eyes were pale from how tired he was and he could barely lift himself off the ground. Usually someone like him would have been kicked in the stomach,if he was still a Sergeant in the army that might have been the exact thing that happened but he'd retired and this was his life now...dealing with kits and kittens.

 _How did it ever come to this?..._

"GET YOUR DAMN ASS UP CADET! Or would you like me to start calling you 'Sleeping Beauty'?" He leaned in close towards the fox deliberately breathing his tobacco breath into his face watching as he coughed lightly glaring at him with contempt.

"Maybe if you weren't so busy trying to give me the kissing breath of death, I might be able to get my ass up sir," he drawled breezily still glaring at the tiger with pure annoyance.

"Keep talking like that fox and I'll send ya down where no fox has gone before," he growled quietly close to one of his large ears before pulling himself back up to his full height and walking away hands behind his back, "Alright males let's move out! Next course tomorrow is Ice Wall!"

"Yes sir Sergeant Williams!," they all responded in unison with backs stiff and hands to their sides and straight faces and scowls to match.

The javan tiger nodded his head before saluting to them and then snapped," NOW GET THE HELL OUT OF MY SIGHT YA VERMINS AND REST UP!" The cadets looked thoroughly shocked at the sudden switch in voice volume but not as unprepared as they'd been before during breakfast; rather than responding the trainees walked away back to the cabins chatting idly with one another as they did. Nick was, for once, in the middle of the line surprisingly but no one stuck near him as if he had the plague or something. As he walked he could hear his name or rather his species being brought up in a conversation coming from in front and beside him to the left a little between a african golden cat and a marbled cat, both snickering.

"So you put how much down for him?," the marbled cat asked, female by the sound of it. She had bright golden orange eyes, eyes that were quite large but that was expected of their species. The golden cat snickered some more before smiling gleefully and responding, "Thirty bucks! Either he gets kicked out the academy before he can yip or he fails; either way it's gonna be a blast for me! The perfect entertainment for this boring academy!" She exclaimed.

"No kidding about that darling, hahaha!"

And there it was. The first key sign that no one in the academy could be trusted. The first true sign that he had his own back from now on and his only true ally was himself and the only mammal besides his mother who'd ever truly believed in him. From now on, he only would care for himself and no one but himself. But it was fine, he'd been living on the streets for a long time, this was nothing more than a cheap discount display than what he'd seen and been through.

With that in mind he continued on his way...alone.

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 **A/N: That was a bit too emo I'll admit at the end but it was still pretty good! Anyways, favorite, follow, and review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Guys, I am SO SORRY about the long HIATUS that I'm sure many thought I went on. Truth be told, I almost gave up on this story - ALMOST. I thought that many people weren't reading it, but now I see that a lot of people were reading it, and so all I can say is, sorry.**

 **This does not make up for my absence I am fully aware of that, and that sorry can only mean so much yet so little… So please, understand that I DO intend to finish this story, truthfully.**

 **I'm not guaranteeing chapters will come out faster or anything but I am going to try. To be quite frank, I want to finish this story to. I do love this one out of them all, and in the time I've been away from this story I've got the WHOLE plot worked out - IN MY MIIIIIND!**

 **So yes, there will be fluff. And by fluff, I mean gay fluff. Yep.**

 **Remember when I mentioned in my SOMETHING'S UP about how I was gonna make a gayfic? - this isn't the gayfic, but consider this a warm up for what's to come after this. So enjoy what I have to offer as American Quality Entertainment, or as I like to call it, AQE (ACK).**

 **And also, I am probably gonna release a bonus chapter at the end of this story to give you an idea of the gayfic.**

 **And also I re-read this story and I just realized how EXTREMELY SHORT THESE CHAPTERS ARE! Like, OH MY GOODNESS, I DIDN'T KNOW! But, alas me Hardee's, I have done the thing that will save us! Or the chapters more specifically…**

 **I downloaded Google Docs! *autistic screeches ensue***

 **On behalf of those who are autistic, or have family members who are autistic I apologize but I'm still 14 and I'm still immature so...(∩_∩)**

 **BTW did I ever mention that my stories are being typed on my phone? Cause they are...**

 **So yeaaah….**

 **ON WITH THE STORY!**

Training Wilde!

Chapter 3

When Nick got to his bunk bed he wasn't surprised to say the least when his bunkmate just happened to be a wolf (because apparently canines need to stick together and what not). What _did_ surprise the fox was how...abnormally quiet he was, then again Nick had decided he would be grateful for that, in all honesty he would have to say he actually liked the wolf - he barely communicated with him, only giving him a passing glance before making his way towards his spot on the double bunk bed.

 _At least he isn't trying to act all dominant._ Nick thought with some reassurance. In the time he'd been at the ZPA he had already encountered enough stereotypes to fill a classroom. It was utterly ridiculous is what it was, the way the rhinos were dumb and brawny, the wolves were territorial and strived for dominance, and the felines were just...being felines. Nick honestly felt sorry for any precinct that got handed officers like _them_ ; he wasn't gloating or anything, but by God was the fox stereotype better than theirs - at least they had the word _cunning_ included.

But this wolf, he just seemed... _different_. In a way that made the vulpine disregard him thoroughly enough to focus on tomorrow, which included the 'Icy Wall Of Death And Multiple Limbs Being Chopped Off due To Accidental Frostbite' as Nick liked to think of the Ice Wall. He could definitely say that he was going to have an ultimate hell of a time falling into the freezing depths below him over and over again. Of course on the plus side, he overheard some of his fellow cadets muttering about how Ursula would be overlooking their training tomorrow alongside Sergeant Tobacco Breath, so there was that to look forwards to. As he climbed into the bottom bunk he couldn't help but reflect upon what he'd overheard the two felines talking about. They were _really wagering_ on whether he'd get kicked out the academy? With money of all things?

Nick had gambled a lot of times in his life, and knew the ins and outs of how it all worked. His bright green orbs settled down upon the ceiling where he lay in thought for a moment. Then suddenly a smirk, wide and brazen, spread across his fluffy features. If that was the game then he would play by it, till the end. For Nick understood these things, gamblings on someone's life and knew how to beat them at it - stay alive, and also have a fireball of a bunny on your side as well...you know, for safety measurements, everyone needs one at some point.

With a smirk rivaling all those smuggards out there, our fellow fox fell asleep.

For what felt like two minutes. (Don't you just hate it when that happens?)

The lights to the dorm the cadets were staying in had not been turned off, but even so the slamming of a door opening reached everyone's ears. Nick cringed and then groaned as he stood up and gave a half-hearted stretch before looking out from his bed post to see what was happening - if a bunch of tall mammals could get out the way.

It wasn't long till a voice he hated already rang crisp and clear throughout the room.

"Alright sissies it's lunch, and like breakfast you only have a certain limit of time to eat so get to it!" Then the door was closed and mammals were bustling about chatting with one another some even still trying to awaken other parts of their bodies that objected to the sudden movement of their joints. Nick was neither as he had quietly slipped past everyone and was now making his way towards the cafeteria.

 _Thank the Kitsune Goddess I have a memory like no other._ Nick thought to himself before noticing he was already at the doors of the luncheon, and he could already hear and feel the vibrations of larger mammals approaching. Considering that the doors were made to accommodate larger prey and predators alike Nick had to once again resign himself to the fact that he would have to legitimately stand there and wait to (almost) get trampled on. _Even when I'm first I still can't get what I want…_

The first large beast to arrive at the doors was a elephant who disregarded him with disdain before opening the door with his trunk, and then almost fitfully (and successfully) slamming the door in the fox's face. What the elephant hadn't counted on was the speed that vulpines were gifted with, and it was that speed that saw Nick through the door and already reaching up to grab his tray. What they had was...at least better than the shit they served in high school.

It was a heap of mashed potatoes alongside a styrofoam bowl filled with potatoes slices and lizard slices. Nick was an omnivore at heart through and through, so he found this to be an exception he was okay with. Meat wasn't really his thing; another thing that wasn't his thing was that he discovered they had no blueberries, and that did not sit well with the red vulpine. He refused to acknowledge such a fact and promptly turned up his nose at such a disgrace to what is such clearly a artistic fruit of the ages.

Obviously.

Still sulking about his blueberry dilemma he begrudgingly ate his fill of the soup he'd been granted. Okay, so he would admit first and foremostly that the soup _was good_ \- didn't mean anything though, he still wanted his blueberries. Though the fox decided he would count his blessings seeing as to how he at least had something _good_ , and it wasn't oatmeal...so there was that.

 _SLAM!_

Startled, the red vulpine found himself jerked out of dazed stupor to stare into a pair of callous dark amber eyes. Eyes of which seemed to belong to that of a very, very, very pissed off Bengal tiger who looked like he wanted to do nothing than crush the living shit out the fox. Nick let out a slight gulp before inhaling sharply an regaining composure, there was no way he was gonna show any emotion towards the beast before him. A low growl emanated from the striped feline as it took a moment for Nick to realize that the tiger had a dirty tray first of all, and also, he seemed to have something consisting of...Nick had no idea what it was but it smelt like shit.

"You're in _my seat runt_." The tiger growled lowly. It seemed that the majority of those at the same table had hushed to watch the spectacle with wide interested eyes.

"Really?" Nick asked staring up at him with disinterested eyes. "No heathen? Feign? Lord of Death? Come on I thought you guys would be more creative than that!" Nick stated a small smirk starting to form on his lips, however this only made the tiger more pissed. A snarl ripped from his throat as he smacked Nick's tray off the table. Nick simply watched it fly off the table towards the floor not really caring all that much for his loss of food - he never cared much for potatoes anyways…

Or lizard, they weren't really a part of a fox's diet anyways.

Nick was quick to leap off his seat just as a massive paw came inches from his throat only to yelp as he felt paws clasp around his shoulders and hold him still. He looked with wide eyes to find himself staring into deep lime green eyes filled with malice and hate. He yelped involuntarily as a sudden pounding sensation slammed into his stomach, and it was also a very hot sensation. His eyes wondered down to find himself covered in the same crap that the amber eyed Bengal tiger had had not a moment ago, it was now all over him.

 _Awww shiiiiit._ Nick thought in dismay.

Pain was slow to come as Nick was still focusing upon his now dirty trainee suit, but when it did needless to say he screeched.

Really, really, really loudly.

Let it not go unsaid that foxes had the loudest vocal range of any canine (which they didn't) but you get the point. He was loud, very loud indeed.

No but seriously, look up fox noises and I swear to god...it's funny as FUUUUCK! And cute as well, can't forget that.

Anyways, because of Nick's loud ass screaming he succeeded in managing to be let go of his captor who was clutching his short round ears and grimacing from the pain of his scream. It was also at that very exact moment that a door was opened and lo and behold Sergeant Williams brought his smelly as breath into the drama.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE!?" He roared. His roar only added to the two tigers pain as they shuffled off leaving Nick alone on the floor covered in food chunks and 'mystery lunch'. Of course the tiger didn't notice the two striped felines, but he did notice the red fox on the floor.

Naturally of course.

A whole hour later after cleaning up the food and then mopping the wet spot up, because because Williams is an asshole, and no sooner did Nick find himself sitting uncomfortably within the Sergeant's office awaiting judgment, or rather his judgment.

He shifted only slightly in his seat, worry causing the fox to do something he never would've done in any other situation: he started gekkering.

Gekkering- a noise foxes make when angry, or anxious, and/or when they are nervous and sometimes when they're happy too.

They were short little clicking sounds emanating from his muzzle as his tail flicked back and forth with anxiety. _Calm down Nick, just calm down_. Obviously easier said than done; paranoia was something of a _habit_ than a legit _problem_ for Nick if one were to get to know him, in a sense he literally inhabited every known stereotype there was for foxes which included anxiety, and sometimes a nervous breakdown. Sitting there in the office the fox found himself under pressure with the sudden worry (completely unneeded I might add) that his own instructor would kick him out the academy.

But he couldn't he reasoned, it was just impossible. Not to mention a certain rabbit would be off with his head if he did, especially if she found out the reason was due to Nick being a fox and an ex-conman.

The sound of the door opening immediately made the fox freeze in his seat as cold sweat dripped from his forehead. His tail fluffed up with tension as he waited with baited breath and wide eyes for his verdict.

Williams's gait towards his chair was slow - very deliberately slow. Each step made Nick's heart pound just a tad bit more than need be. By the time the tiger had sat down Nick was sure he would suffer from cardiac arrest in a moment.

There was silence, if you were to be looking at the scene before you there would be silence, but to Nick it felt like the tiger before him along with every other cadet could hear his heartbeating at a mile per hour.

"Well it seems we both saw this day coming," Williams began to speak, his voice gravelly with that odd country accent. "At some point you decided during lunch that it was a good idea to provoke Antonio, who now has it out for your head, not that I blame him of course."

Surprisingly the whole time he was talking the vulpine's heart had decreased and was now beating at a regular pace. The relief of knowing that he wasn't getting chewed out or kicked out the academy was exhilarating, although he hated the Sergeant he couldn't exactly hate him at this moment - it seemed the Javanese tiger's head wasn't as big as the rest of his body as Nick had previously thought.

He listened on anyways. "Due to some... _information_ given to me by a certain wolf, as much as I'd _like_ to chew you out for causing a ruckus I can't, because it wasn't you who _almost_ started a fight. The key word here is _almost_ ; don't let your saving grace get to your head."

The striped feline sighed heavily before reaching under his desk and pulling out a long blunt. Nick, not wanting to be around when the tiger started smoking, assumed that was his cue to leave and began to leap down to the floor from the massive chair he'd been standing on.

"Did I say leave cadet?"

Stopping in his tracks the fox turned to stare back up at the tiger before him. "Well...it felt implied si- I mean Sergeant." Nick stated slowly.

"Well it wasn't, sit the fuck back down."

So he did.

Then the agonizingly strong smell of tobacco wafted into the small canine's nose almost making him sneeze. He held back the urge to peel his lips back to reveal his sharp teeth in distaste at the bitter tang hitting his scent glands. It was in that moment that Nick desperately wished he'd disobeyed the tiger's orders and ran out the door when he'd had the chance.

The silence dragged on for a bit more before the Sergeant finally spoke again. "So what makes you think...that you would, I don't know...help a mammal? _Could_ you help a mammal that is." Sergeant Williams asked.

Before Nick could answer he was immediately interrupted as the Sergeant continued onwards with his speech. "We officers - have a dedication to help others out there who need help, not fill our own ego." He stopped and stared at the vulpine for a moment before inhaling a puff of smoke and letting it out in a _whoosh_.

Then he started again. " Wilde, which one of those two things do think I see you as?"

"Golly jeez sir, you barely gave me any options." Nick said in a high pitched boyish voice, talking in an almost fast paced exaggerated way. Williams was not amused by this display and promptly slammed a paw upon his desk, which seemed to work for many of his subordinates, causing Nick to let out a strangled yelp as glanced up once more at the Sergeant.

"TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY!" He snapped.

He inhaled sharply before muttering something along the lines of a prayer an then proceeding to lean back in his chair.

"Wilde, when I saw you walk through those gates with the other cadets I was aware that you'd have your head in the clouds in a way that would make your head bigger than the rest of your body."

"I believe that's called a brain fart Ser-"

"SHUT UP!" He roared before inhaling another puff which seemed to calm him down enough to talk again, "This is what I'm talking about - all play and no work, you're worser than an otter."

 _And you're very speciest._ Nick wanted to say but kept his mouth shut.

"I honestly don't know what that rabbit saw in you, what I don't know is, you are NOTHING like Officer Hopps - I'd like to even think she could've solved that missing mammals case all her own without you."

Suddenly he was leaning very close to the fox and spewing his tobacco breath all over him," I saw her performance at the academy, Wilde, everything she did was to prove her point that rabbits could be so much more - she _had_ everything to lose, and you? - nothing. Because you never really even cared from the beginning, tell me." Once again the tiger leaned back into his seat seeming satisfied with himself and leaving Nick speechless yet swimming in his anger as he thought on his words, and then that anger changed into something else and he couldn't even put a finger on it in the slightest.

He looked back up at the feline before and exhaled softly. "With all due respect, but what makes you so sure I'm not here for the same reasons except for foxes?"

The Sergeant seemed to think on that for a second before answering with," You already gave up before in life didn't you? If a rabbit, _your prey_ I might add, has to motivate you to do something with your miserable, sorry excuse for a life then who is to say you won't give up again? Before you graduate, _IF_ you graduate anyways, you'll be on your knees needing somebody to hold you and whisper comforting words to you; what we run here is a facility meant to be for the brave, smart, and for those who inspire _themselves_ , and don't need their hand to be held by others - that's why I think you're going to fail, and that's also what others think to, because they can see as clear as day."

Nick swallowed and asked shakily," And that would be…?"

"You're _weak_."

"O-oh...I see - right…"

"Wilde are you going to _cry_?" Sergeant Williams asked with something close to a sneer on his muzzle.

"No." Nick snapped.

Williams snorted. "Good, 'cause that would just fuel my point wouldn't it?"

Nick could not find the words to say anything and so he dumbly nodded his head at his question. Silence resumed as normal and nobody spoke, the smell of tobacco however became ever stronger causing Nick to have to choke back a cough.

A couple of more minutes of silence an then," C-can I leave now?"

There was no response but a simple nod of the head as the fox leaped from his chair and dashed out the door towards clean air not permeated by the sour smell of tobacco. The vulpine inhaled deeply before standing still for a brief moment and looking back at the door from which he had barged out of; his green eyes glanced at the nameplate for a moment, and in that moment he thought about what the tiger had said - was it true? Did he really seem like he was going to give up so early in? Sure his performance with the Sandstorm Simulator had been nothing short of pathetic, but it had been his first run and he hadn't counted on it being so...so...ugh he couldn't even describe it.

He sighed and turned away from the door and continued out of the building, which was reserved for the instructors only, and began his trudge back to the dorms. His stomach moaned out in agony when he passed the cafeteria, but he wasn't really hungry anymore and so blatantly ignored the smell of food coming from the cracked door.

 _ **Due to some...information given to me by a certain wolf…**_

Who could he have been? And why even tell the truth in the first place? Why not get him kicked out the academy to avoid competition with a smaller cousin of his species? Nick found himself pondering this as he walked into his dorm room which he could've sworn a moment ago wasn't this quiet.

Until he walked in...of course.

He stopped at the entrance feeling awkward before inhaling and exhaling sharply, then making his way towards his bunk bed decidedly ignoring his fellow cadets.

Especially the lupine cadets.

 _Someone in here is on my side..._ The vulpine thought as he made it to his bunk which he gratefully crawled into and wrapped himself up in the covers with a contented sigh.

His last thought before sleep overtook him was, _Someone out there is cheering me on, but who, and why…?_

 _Day 2_

They were supposed to be doing the Ice Wall only to discover another class of cadets were using it that morning, so instead they ended up sitting in chairs with papers and sharpened pencils held at the ready to take notes on the presentation they were about to watch.

Presentation that was more or less a very shitty cartoon depicting protocols and procedures that cops had to follow.

The presentation began to start, showing to cops doing what cops usually end up doing - the realistic side of the job - giving out tickets and patrolling. As they were patrolling suddenly a wildebeest, intoxicated, was driving past the speed limit and making erratic turns, even almost hitting a civilian. The class watched on intrigued, well...everyone except Nick who just looked bored.

The two bewildered cops looked shocked, then, as Nick suspected they would, they both turned towards the camera looking perplexed. Silly cartoon noises followed causing some to snicker in the back.

"Woah Todd! Did you see that?!" Cop number one asked.

 _They didn't...they REALLY DIDN'T..._ Nick thought in horror.

"I sure did Moth, we should do something!" Cop number two said with urgency.

Cop number one shook their heads. "We can't it's not protocol!" Suddenly they both looked back at the screen with their weird ass ditto faces.

"What do _you_ think is the appropriate answer kids?" The second cop asked.

"I think maybe a pedo made this," someone muttered from the back.

"Yeah a fucking five year old pedo maybe," someone else responded back.

The video was paused as a voice, very feminine and much louder than Williams, yelled," ALRIGHT CADETS, WE ARE GOING TO LET YOU ANSWER THIS QUESTION AND THEN TELL US WHY YOU PICKED THAT ANSWER."

There was a collective wince on everyone's face as they began to write their answers down.

Nick wrote: _Do go after them. This is because they are patrolling that area most likely, and if they encounter a crime while they are doing so then they call it in and it's pretty much basic math from there on out._

He stared at his answer for a moment, tilting his head to the side in wonder then deciding to leave it like it is.

It was a whole half a minute later before everyone was finished jotting down their answers. Ursula, _Coach_ Ursula as she liked to be called, was a massive female polar bear, and was also the same polar bear who taught and saw over Judy's training. In other words in the time that she was here she would not only be overlooking the entire class, but Nick specifically.

Or at least that was Nick's conspiracy theory.

It was Sergeant Williams who spoke up next. "Now that you've wrote down your answers we will start off by asking for volunteers."

There was a bout of silence before someone finally raised their hand.

"Yes, Sakisha."

Everyone in the room turned around to stare at Sakisha including Nick who found it to be the same African golden cat from yesterday. His eyes narrowed to slits as she stood up and told her answer out loud.

"I put, they shouldn't go after the speeding lunatic because they were given specific orders to patrol the area."

Williams nodded at this and letting out a sigh of relief the golden cat sat back down. The next one to raise their hand was none other than Nick's bunkmate, whose pelt was a dark tan in color with a shade of black added to his back and shoulders, with a lighter shade of creamy tan added to his neck, chest, and stomach.

Williams nodded towards him albeit stiffly, and his eyes seemed to grow darker than usual when they landed on him.

"I put down that the two officers should follow after the suspect seeing as to how they are patrolling the area, and that means looking out for any crime... _plus_ he was going over the speed limit."

"Thank you, Jace, that'll be all." Then he turned to address the rest of the class who silently put their hands down," If you are assigned a patrol, or to patrol a certain area and come across a crime happening in that area, then you should call it in and proceed as necessary to deal with the situation."

The whole time he talked the majority of the class were taking notes, and the others were just erasing their answers and putting the correct one on their paper. Nick didn't since he'd already had the correct answer anyways.

The video continued to play once again showing the correct answer on screen before it showed the two officers driving after the intoxicated mammal. The car itself that the drunk mammal was driving continued to swerve back and forth along the street it was on. Nick was able to see very clearly that the street they were on was supposed to be a representation of Happy Town, or at least Maple Street. The wildebeest swerved hard to the left and crashed into a pole upending the trunk which popped up, the engine itself was now sparking an smoking fumes into the air. As for the wildebeest….he was fucked…

Then the video was paused, again. It showed a very, very, very fucked up wildebeest looking fifty percent more stupid than it did before.

" _What would you do in this situation?_ " A voice in the video asked. Everyone with pencils at the ready were about to jot down their answers when Coach Ursula said:

"Now before you all start writing down your answers, you're going to be partnering up with your bunkmate and going over your answers together." She stated.

Everyone seemed elated at the thought of being near their bunkmate, whereas Nick's blood went cold at the near thought of having to talk to his - it also didn't help that his instructor had the biggest devious smile on his face as stared at the vulpine.

 _Shit._

 **A/N: WELP! Hope that was satisfying, like...I'm going to try to make these chapters a bit longer, maybe make them hot the 4,000 word mark and beyond.**

 **I'm trying guys! But, HEY LOOK! A REAL GOOD CHAPTER!**

 **AND SERGEANT WILLIAMS IS A BITCH.**

 **So what do you guys wanna see happen next? I know what I want.**

 **EGGROLLS**

 **MMMMMMM**

 **(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)**


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